Bras Basah

As I said in my previous post, we went to our preferred areas on our second day of our SG trip. My preffered place to go to was Bras Basah Complex. If you’re an art hoarder in the art field, THIS is the place to be!!!

This building is an artist’s heaven. ♥

I discovered Bras Basah Complex in the internet while looking for places to go before our SG trip. A lot of bloggers recommended this place because of Art Friend, Art Mark, and Straits. They have brands that are not available/hard-to-find in the Philippines!
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art friend copic sets

Copic marker sets.

copics 1

Copic Ciao & Copic Sketch markers

copics 2

art friend notebooks

This notebook / sketchpad aisle is HEAVEN. ♥

art friend bulk buys

I saw this in between the two Art Friend stores. I bought 2 packs of the Montval paper. What a steal!!!

art friend bulk buys 2

After browsing the wares of Art Friend and Art Mark. We checked out Basheer Graphic books. The interior design section has a lot of books only sold there!

I'll buy you... some day.

I’ll buy you… some day.

basheer id detail books

We then went to Straits after. Its near the Bras Basah Complex so might as well visit.

straits

I was supposed to buy watercolor tube/pans on this trip but I didn’t find what I was looking for. So these are what I hoarded:

I’m sure this will last for months/years. Happy with my haul ♥

Singapore 2016

basheer

Inggo and I went on an adventure a few weeks ago. It wasn’t our first adventure together, but this trip still had many “firsts”. So let me list some: first overseas trip for me, first overseas trip together, first time to go to a 24 hours open mall, first time to eat a banana-looking and delicious tapioca Thai dessert, first time to go home solo.

I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures because my digicam died and its charger is broken.  Eep. But I don’t mind. Live for the experience, right? So here are some photos that I took from my digicam (before it died) and my phone. Picture heavy post ahead!

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First thing to do when you arrive in Changi Airport: Get a tourist pass! We got the 3-day pass for $30 each ($10 rebatable). Worth it!

First agenda when you arrive in Changi Airport: Get a tourist pass! We got the 3-day pass for $30 each ($10 rebatable). Worth it!

We stayed at V Hotel Lavender. It was a good decision since its just beside the MRT.

We stayed at V Hotel Lavender. It was a good decision since its just beside the MRT.

chicken rice

Lunch at a Kopi Tiam/ Hawker center beside our hotel. Chicken rice is a must in Singapore. ($7.50 in this kopi tiam. Comes with soup and a veggie viand. Delicious!)

lanterns

It was the weekend before Chinese New Year. So there were a lot of celebrations around the country. This one was at Bugis. I love that there’s only 1 red lantern in this shot.

We didn’t do the touristy route on this trip (a.k.a. Universal Studios / Sentosa / Night Safari).  We did have an itinerary though! It was: go to our preferred places (Bras Basah complex for me, Funan mall for him) and eat the recommended food. That’s it. I love having a lot of time for exploring. And I love that its the same for him. That’s why sulit na sulit ang Tourist Pass samin. We don’t stress over the itinerary and just go with the flow. We were supposed to get off at City Hall station but we were too tired from walking from Orchard road. So we just rested and went all the way up to Marina Bay station. HAHA.

nasi goreng

Nasi Goreng seafood at Kampong Glam Cafe, Arab street. Looks simple no? But it was full of flavor.

laksa

Late night snack at a random hawker center after exploring Little India. Didn’t like the noodles used here but I love that it had oyster bits.

Bras Basah complex. Will do a seperate post about it soon.

Bras Basah complex. Will do a separate post about it soon.

Funan Digitalife Mall. Near City Hall station. For all your computer needs.

Funan Digitalife Mall. Near City Hall station. For all your computer needs.

funan thai food

Thai for lunch at Funan. Green curry with chicken for him. Tom Yum Goong for me. It was so spicy + delicious! The surprising item was the dessert. I thought it was pineapple with milk so I didn’t touch mine. But he said it wasn’t so I took a bite. SO. DELICIOUS. I’m still craving for it! After further research, it’s cassava with coconut milk.

orchard road

We ended up exploring Orchard Road after Funan. For what reason? He wanted to eat at Ippudo.

ippudo food

I don’t remember the name of this. What I remember though is that this is $6 for 4 pieces of delicious meat and onions. HUHU.

drinks menu

Teh Tarik menu. Research the differences between “O”, “C”, “Susu”, etc. for your preferred drink. Teh is “tea”, Kopi is “coffee”. 🙂

iced mocha

Every drink I had in SG was delicious. ♥

heavenly wang

Last breakfast in SG. Kopi “O”, Kopi “C”, and Kaya toast. This was beside our hotel. We decided to eat here because of the name – “Heavenly Wang” HAHA. But the food is good. A bit expensive though.

Some tips we learned during our stay:

  1. Get the tourist pass card! It’s worth the money. Plus you won’t get stressed out when you miss your station/stop. Just ride again HAHA.
  2. Take the MRT and bus. I’m pretty sure you won’t get lost. SG is a commute friendly country. There are maps inside and outside the station (map for MRT, map of the vicinity) plus the bus schedules are also posted there. If not, you can still ask the MRT staff for help. Also, they have free maps everywhere! I grabbed 3 in Changi HAHAHA.
  3. Some stations are nearby each other. If you have a problem riding a lot of stations to change lines, just WALK. (Example: to get to Bras Basah from Lavender. You have to ride the green line to City Hall, change to red line to Dhoby Ghaut, then to Bras Basah.)
  4. Wear comfortable clothes. It’s a hot country, yea?
  5. Get a sim card. We got one in Changi. It was $15 for 5 days with data. Very useful in case you need to google bus schedules, store locations, operating hours, etc.
  6. In our opinion, don’t bother going to the malls and restaurants. They’re expensive! Just go to hawker centers / kopi tiam for food. As for shopping. Souvenirs (keychain/bag): cheapest at Bugis street. Perfume/chocolates: Mustafa centre. Art materials: BRAS BASAH COMPLEX. Computer stuff: Eh, they have the latest stuff here but prices are comparable with Philippines. As for clothes: Bugis is the “cheapest”. But “cheap” in SG is $10-$20 = 340php-680php.
  7. Take advantage of the GST refund. Read more about it here.

Sigh. Thank you to Inggo for bringing me to SG! I had so much fun. Especially since its with you. ♥ (CHOS AHAHA). That’s all for now. Art hoard post coming soon!

A watercolor affair

After resigning from my job last January 2015, I promised myself that I would do more art and try out all of my art materials. And I did! At the same time, I also shared my works on Instagram and got to know a lot of local artists. A few months after that, I joined a local watercolor group hoping to meet new people (seriously). The admin organized a watercolor atc trade event a few weeks ago and I attended. So, what are ATCs? According to this link:

Artist trading cards (ATCs) are miniature pieces of art that are traded around the world. Artists create, trade and collect art at organized “swap” events, either in person or online. The only official rule for ATCs is the size: 2.5″ x 3.5″

I attended the event with my IG friend Jean (@jeankelly11 & @watercolordive). We met up at Glorietta and got lost on the way to the venue. But it was a blessing in disguise because the next person to arrive at the event was one of our idols – Margaret Morales ! We were table mates and group mates for the trade. I was sooooooo happy! She was really nice and down to earth. 🙂

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When we finally had enough people, we went to our assigned groups and started trading! I was in Group 3. Two from my group didn’t get to attend, but they sent their cards to the admin to be traded.

012016 watercolorist meetup 1

On the left are Jen Mandia ‘s delicious looking ATCs, on the right are Dindin Lagdameo ‘s colorful ATCs.

012016 watercolorist meetup 2

Clockwise from upper left: Dianne Zaragoza ‘s , Mikai Tuazon ‘s kyooot large ATC , Monique‘s food ATC, Dindin’s, Jen Mandia’s, and Ardee‘s period fashion ATC.

012016 watercolorist meetup 3

Monique‘s food ATC, Margaret Morales‘ amazing ATCs, Aiza‘s crazy detailed ATCs (huhu my photo didn’t do justice to her art, go check her IG!), and finally my ATCs.

My ATCs captured by Maggie.

My ATCs captured by Maggie.

What I received after the trade.

What I received after the trade.

Everyone is so talented and inspiring! I had a great time chatting with people with the same interests as mine. If given the chance, I’m sure we can talk about art materials the whole day HAHA. We only met that day but it felt like we’ve been friends for a long time. ❤ We even took outfit photos together AHAHA (but I won’t upload that here).  Hay. So grateful 🙂 . Hopefully there will be a next time. I promise to attend more art related events this year!

Before I sleep

Just want to say “Hi, I’m still alive”. HAHA. No, I’m not giving up on this blog yet. I just want to finalize the design / layout of my blog before I could finally post something. Since I only do layouts in the construction & design industry and not online, my fiance will be coding my theme for me. ♥ It’s a win-win situation – I’ll be guilty if I don’t blog since he did make an effort. Imagine a web developer trying to understand an interior designer on her specs! HAHAHA.

Anyway, we’re going on an adventure 1 day from now. Excited and scared at the same time. Eep.